Pompano Beach Gas Station Accident Has A Familiar Ring

July 17, 1999

I want to commend mechanic Greg Plageman for saving Pearl Steinberg at the Pembroke Pines Amoco Station (June 25 article in Local section). I watched the breaking story on the news and read it in your newspaper. It took a lot of guts to do what he did, seeing that the situation was so dangerous and could have been worst. Excellent job, Greg.

Now let's us bring our attention to Pearl Steinberg. Still behind the wheel at 86 years old. She hit the gas instead of the brake. Where have I heard this before? Countless times in 18 years, I have seen vehicles driven by elderly drivers causing accidents like this because their reaction time is so slow. Crashing though storefronts of businesses, being involved in hit-and-run accidents because they have no idea that they hit another vehicle. Why? Because the elderly driver hit the gas instead of the brake pedal. Now I understand that driving at this age is a necessity to get from point A to point B and not wanting to count on someone else to take them places. However, in this case what if the accident were worse, causing tragic loss of life? All because the state of Florida does not want to put the elderly under a microscope and start paying more attention to the fact that after a certain age that a driver's license should be looked at more closely. Yes, I will get the argument of the problem of teen-age driving, road rage, people talking on cell phones and reading while they drive, road debris -- the list could go on and on. Elderly driving is just one of the serious problems that should be addressed by the state of Florida. As everyone can see, South Florida is not an easy place to drive in anymore.